Chicago Basin
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Chicago Basin
Chicago Basin comprises the upper portion of the Needle Creek watershed in the Needle Mountains (Colorado), a subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the US State of Colorado. It lies within the Weminuche Wilderness, part of the San Juan National Forest. Needle Creek is an east-side tributary of the Animas River. The basin is a popular destination in summer for climbers and backpackers. The upper portion of the basin is surrounded by three fourteeners In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single ...: Mount Eolus, Windom Peak, and Sunlight Peak. Columbine Pass lies to the east of the lower basin. The standard route of access to Chicago Basin is somewhat unusual. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, driven by a historical steam locomotive, runs through the canyon of ...
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Needle Mountains (Colorado)
The Needle Mountains are a subrange of the San Juan Mountains of the Rocky Mountains located in the southwestern part of the U.S. State of Colorado. Much of the range is protected in the Weminuche Wilderness of the San Juan National Forest. The range is notable for having some of the most rugged mountains in the state, and includes many technical climbs and scrambles. A small but dramatic east–west subrange in the northern section is known as the Grenadier Range. Geology Unlike the rest of the San Juan Mountains, which are volcanic in origin, the Needle Mountains (along with the Grenadier Range) are a mass of uplifted Precambrian rocks. They consist chiefly of quartzite, granite, and amphibolite. The mountains are referred to as the Needle Mountains Uplift. Notable peaks * Mount Eolus, 14,089 ft * Windom Peak, 14,082 ft * Sunlight Peak, 14,059 ft * Pigeon Peak, 13,972 ft * Vestal Peak, 13,864 ft (Grenadier Range) * Turret Peak, 13,835 ft ...
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Windom Peak
Windom Peak is the highest summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast by north ( bearing 32°) of the City of Durango in La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The summit of Windom Peak is the highest point in La Plata County and the entire San Juan River drainage basin. The mountain was named in honor of Minnesota senator William Windom. Climbing Windom Peak is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the other two are Mount Eolus and Sunlight Peak. Windom and Sunlight lie on the east side of Twin Lakes, in upper Chicago Basin, while Eolus lies on the west side. All three peaks are relatively remote by Colorado standards, and have a strong wilderness character; however they can be popular in summer. Historical names *Windom Mountain *Windom Peak – 1974 See also *List of mountain peaks of North America **List of ...
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Valleys Of Colorado
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a very long period. Some valleys are formed through erosion by glacial ice. These glaciers may remain present in valleys in high mountains or polar areas. At lower latitudes and altitudes, these glacially formed valleys may have been created or enlarged during ice ages but now are ice-free and occupied by streams or rivers. In desert areas, valleys may be entirely dry or carry a watercourse only rarely. In areas of limestone bedrock, dry valleys may also result from drainage now taking place underground rather than at the surface. Rift valleys arise principally from earth movements, rather than erosion. Many different types of valleys are described by geographers, using terms that may be global in use or else applied only locally. ...
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Steam Locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders, in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels. Fuel and water supplies are usually carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in a tender coupled to it. Variations in this general design include electrically-powered boilers, turbines in place of pistons, and using steam generated externally. Steam locomotives were first developed in the United Kingdom during the early 19th century and used for railway transport until the middle of the 20th century. Richard Trevithick ...
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Durango And Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally-designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968. The route was originally opened in 1882 by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) to transport silver and gold ore mined from the San Juan Mountains. The line was an extension of the D&RG narrow-gauge line from Antonito, Colorado to Durango. The last train to operate into Durango from the east was on December 6, 1968. The states of New Mexico and Colorado purchased 64 miles of track between Antonito and Chama, New Mexico in 1970, which is operated today as the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TSRR). Trackage between Chama and Durango was removed by 19 ...
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Columbine Pass
Columbine may refer to: Places * Columbine, Colorado, a census-designate place in Jefferson and Arapahoe counties in Colorado, United States ** Columbine High School, a high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States *** Columbine Memorial, a memorial in Columbine, Colorado, United States, commemorating the Columbine High School massacre * Columbine, Routt County, Colorado, an unincorporated community and historic district in Routt County, Colorado, United States * Columbine Peak, a mountain in California Massacres * Columbine High School massacre, a 1999 school shooting in Columbine, Colorado * Columbine Mine massacre, occurring during a 1927 strike by coal miners Arts, entertainment, and media Fictitious characters * Columbine (the commedia dell'arte) or Columbina, a stock character in the ''Commedia dell'arte'' * Columbine, a stock character in ''Harlequinade'' Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media * ''Columbine'' (album), an album by Aura Dione * ''Columbine'' ( ...
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Sunlight Peak
Sunlight Peak is a high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast by north ( bearing 32°) of the City of Durango in La Plata County, Colorado, United States. Sunlight Peak was so named in 1902; the name is likely descriptive. Climbing Sunlight Peak is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the other two are Mount Eolus and Windom Peak. Windom and Sunlight lie on the east side of Twin Lakes, in upper Chicago Basin, while Eolus lies on the west side. All three peaks are relatively remote by Colorado standards, and have a strong wilderness character; however they can be popular in summer. The standard route up Sunlight Peak is from the south, known as the "Red Couloir". It is a non-technical scramble, but achieving the top of the summit block does require an exposed rock climbing move. See also *List of mountain peaks of ...
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Mount Eolus
Mount Eolus is a high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast by north ( bearing 29°) of the City of Durango in La Plata County, Colorado, United States. Named after the Greek god of the wind, the mountain was originally referred to as "Aeolus" in the 1874 Hayden Survey. The current spelling of "Eolus" was first used in the Wheeler Survey of 1878. Climbing Mount Eolus is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the others are Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak. All three peaks are located around the cirque known as Upper Chicago Basin. Eolus lies to the west of the upper basin, while the other peaks lie on the east side. These mountains are among the most remote of Colorado's fourteeners and have a strong wilderness character. North Eolus, elevation , is a northern subpeak of Mount Eolus, though it is not usually counted as ...
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San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. Large scale mining has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass that closed down in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the Camp Bird and Smuggler Union mines, both located between Telluride and Ouray. The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the liner of a cyanide-laced tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville caldera, one of m ...
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Fourteeners
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single state; Alaska is second with 29. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the contiguous United States, one particular state, or another region. __TOC__ Qualification criteria The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways: #Topographic elevation is the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level.All elevations in the 48 contiguous United States include an elevation adjustment from the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). For further information, please see this United States National Geodetic Surveybr>noteIf the elevation or prominence of a summit is calculated as a range of values, the arithmetic mean is shown. #Topographi ...
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Animas River
Animas River (''On-e-mas''; es, Río de las Ánimas) is a river in the western United States, a tributary of the San Juan River (Colorado River), San Juan River, part of the Colorado River, Colorado River System. The Animas-La Plata Water Project was completed in 2015. The project pumps water over a low pass to fill a reservoir, Lake Nighthorse, in Ridges Basin to satisfy Southern Ute tribal water rights claims associated with the Colorado Ute Settlement Act amendments of 2000. Name Spanish people, Spanish explorer Juan Rivera (explorer), Juan Maria de Rivera of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe recorded the name "Rio de las Animas" (in English, River of Souls) in 1765. One theory is that the full name of the river was once "Rio de las Animas Perdidas" (River of Lost Souls) commemorating people who died in the river. A handful of commentators (3) have suggested that the origin of this river's name is confused name with the Purgatoire River of southeastern Colorado. Watershed T ...
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